


Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

by Luna_Myth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Based on a song, Cars, Driving, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 10:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12297048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Myth/pseuds/Luna_Myth
Summary: "The day is beautiful and so are you / My car is ugly but then I'm ugly, too / I know you'd never give me a second glance/ But when the weather's nice / All the other guys don't stand a chance"





	Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

**Author's Note:**

> Based on The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side by The Magnetic Fields.

                Annabeth Chase was the pride of the neighborhood—the smartest person at NYU, the most hard-working student, and she was beautiful. She was going to graduate with full honors and change the world. People of all genders sought after her, stricken with love-struck longing. Teachers appreciated her and students admired her. Annabeth Chase was a perfect success story.

                Percy Jackson was one of the neighborhood’s failures—he couldn’t afford to go to college, he only worked odd jobs because people kept firing him, and although he wasn’t bad-looking, no one seriously considered dating the neighborhood loser.

                He did have one thing to his advantage, however—a car inherited from his step-father. No one else in the neighborhood had a car. Not even Annabeth. For this, Percy was special. Maybe even lucky, because sometimes, when the weather was nice, he got to take Annabeth for a drive and when that happened, at the moment, he was the envy of the whole block.

                He didn’t think he really stood a chance with her. Every guy in the city and several girls in fact wanted to date Annabeth Chase, but he still dreamed of it. On their rides around town, she seemed to like him. She pointed out interesting landmarks and he listened as she told him their histories in a way that was fun and understandable—his high school teachers had never managed that. When he said something goofy in response, she always tried to hide a laugh or a smile and her blonde hair fell in her face, making her look young and carefree and even more beautiful—a sight to behold, sitting there in the passenger seat of his car.

                Unfortunately, Percy’s money was on her ending up with Luke Castellan, an older and popular graduate student who had finally noticed her during her junior year. He’d become quite the gentlemanly suitor and she seemed rather taken with him. Despite this, a number of other people held out hope, making Percy just one of many lovelorn fools, although he was proud to say he was the only one with the car advantage.

                Interestingly, Annabeth didn’t seem to mind that his car was a beat-up old Prius with hoof prints on the hood (that had been a wild summer). He wasn’t sure whether this was to his credit or more to do with the extreme lack of private vehicles in their part of New York City. He hoped it was the former, though, and over the course of their drives, he nursed that hope from behind the steering wheel, glancing at her during turns and stoplights. She started to smile at him more, no longer hiding her amusement at his jokes, and his hope grew. Cautiously, he took her on rides further from home, towards the beaches and romantic places of New York—or as close as he could figure, anyway. Romance wasn’t his specialty as a city boy of his nature, but he did his best.

                Annabeth never complained. He took her to Montauk one time and as they neared the beach he had wanted to hold her hand so badly it hurt. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, but a grin never left his face.

                When they got back she had kissed him good-night on the cheek and he swore he could still feel it hours later. His heart felt heavy and light at the same time.

                The week before graduation she had stopped by his place, smiled at him, and told him he was going to take her to Long Island for a day trip. Not being an idiot, he’d agreed, and they drove for a long while, during which he looked at her as often as he dared and she told him about a class of hers that had sparked a lot of debate among students. The day was beautiful and without thinking he took her hand to point something out to her.

                She laughed, the wind from the open window catching her hair, and he laughed too, marveling slightly at the sight. Their hands stayed linked as he drove.

                They reached Long Island and Annabeth dragged him to a restaurant with a teasing roll of her eyes and a promise to pay. He told her about day trips with his mom while they ate, happy memories, and she talked about her tumultuous relationship with her dad. Sometimes she would grab his hand and he would grin a roguish grin, unable to stop the bubble of joy in his chest.

                On the way back she spoke of her suitors and he listened long and hard. She said she appreciated their feelings, but she wasn’t interested, and his heart caught in his chest. When asked why not, she said her heart already belonged to someone, and when asked who, she rolled her eyes and nudged him in the shoulder, gently so as not to shake the wheel.

                “You, Seaweed Brain,” she said. “Isn’t it obvious?”

                Percy had to pull over so he wouldn’t crash the car and the moment he did, she pulled him into a kiss. It tasted like sea air and saltwater taffy from a candy store they’d stopped at and it was perfect. Percy felt like grinning the entire drive home.


End file.
